asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if any records are available or if any analysis has been made to show, under the following headings, why factories or industries have closed down: (a) loss of market due to reduced consumption and/or demand for products (b) loss of market as a result of reduced competitiveness due to cost or lack of quality of the product (c) inability to get raw material or increased cost of raw material and (d) factors affecting home consumption and exports; and the number of manufacturing units under each of these headings.
Written Answers. - Industrial Closures.
36.
I have been informed by the Industrial Development Authority that, in relation to closures which come to their notice, the authority's records contain general information as to the reasons for such closures. The Deputy will appreciate that many closures result from a variety of, rather than single, specific reasons and that it is difficult to say which is the overriding reason in many cases. Accordingly, it is not possible to classify closures under the headings in the Deputy's question.
According to the records of the Industrial Development Authority 78 firms came to their notice in 1975 as having closed. In so far as it was possible for the authority to ascertain, 25 of these were due to a reduction in the market for the products; ten were as a result of import competition; 12 more arose from production difficulties and the remainder resulted from poor management or other reasons. I should mention that eight of the 78 firms were subsequently reopened. Similar data in respect of earlier years would take some time to compile.